It’s just semantics: The web standard that could replace the identifiers you love to hate
Data ontologists say that the IRI, a cousin of the humble URL, could put the various wars over identity resolution to bed—for good.
Melodrama, petty fights, baseless accusations, inflammatory remarks.
No, it’s not the US Senate floor—this time—but a glimpse into the world of reference data, the continent of identifiers.
The last five years have seen the Financial Instrument Global Identifier, also known as the FIGI, take on its neighbors, the Cusip and the ISIN. And they’ve also seen the LEI attempt to take land that once belonged to DUNS numbers, Business Identifier Codes, and others. (See box below.) If you unpack these
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